Republican Bob Turner on Tuesday won the special election in NY-9, a heavily Democratic congressional district – pulling a huge upset that few would have predicted just months ago.
Turner a popular businessman, ran against a little known and dull Democrat David Weprin in a heated, summer-long race that ignited Democratic fears of a quiet election turning into a referendum on the party and President Barack Obama, ahead of next year’s elections.
In celebrating his victory at his party headquarters in Queens, Turner addressed a packed room of supporters, many of them Orthodox Jews said : “We’ve asked the people of this district to send a message to Washington, and I hope they hear it loud and clear”
“Mr. President, you are on the wrong track.”
Turner came in with 54% of the vote while Weprin placed second at 46%, with 100% precincts reporting, according to unofficial results from Valerie Vazquez, communications director for the New York City Board of Elections.
Meanwhile, Republican Mark Amodei won a landslide victory over Democrat Kate Marshall in a U.S. House special election in Nevada, an important presidential swing state.
“The voters of Nevada have sent a message. The message is, it is time to start a change,” Amodei told 200 supporters at the Eldorado Hotel.
Amodei stomped Marshall by a whopping 22-point margin, 58 percent to 36 percent,
Referendum on President Obama
Despite the views of most analysts who are claiming that Tuesday’s special congressional elections in Nevada and New York were much more than referendums on President Obama but were snapshots of voter enthusiasm which should worry Democrats heading into 2012 campaign–I believe the biggest loser was Anthony Weirner. He lost has lost his credibility, his job and his despicable act has caused his party to lose a very safe seat.
President Obama is running out of steam. I am surprised he lasted this long. He was basically on his own during the general election and he has been on his own since his in inauguration. The Democratic party is dull and lacks innovation. There is no cohesion in terms of talking points. They need to take a page out of the Republicans play book.
